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composed of men whoso political records will
"' invito confidence and give assurance that a vic-:-t6ryV
if won, will not be a barren victory.
'fl, . ' It has been assorted that Mr. Bryan was
Ayaiting to see who tho republican nominee would
4 bo, , This is untrue. He has never felt that his
.position should bo dependent upon tho action
. taken by tho republican party. Tho republicans
'must nominate either a reformer, a standpatter
- 6r one whoso position on public questions is
"unknown, and the course of the democratic
party should be the same no matter which ele
ment controls the republican convention. The
democratic party must make its fight for what
it believes. While it may take advantage of
republican mistakes, it must depend upon its
, merits for success and not upon the errors of
its opponents. If tho republicans nominate a
standpatter, tho democrats can ,take advantage
of the educational work that has been done by
republican refprmers; if the republicans nomin
ate a candidate who, is believed to be favorable
to reform, such a nomination will strengthen
domocratic doctrines, because republican re
formers advocate the reforms that the democrats
have advocated beforo them, and the democrats
can not afford to surrender their position be
cause the republicans give a partial endorse
ment to a few democratic doctrines. If the
republicans nominate one who straddles the
issues and attempts to take both sides, it is
none tho less necessary for the democratic party
to make an aggressive fight. Tho action of the
republican convention may have its influence
in the determining of the relative availibility of
democratic candidates, but it ought not to have
any influence in determining the question wheth
er the one chosen by the democrats should ac
cept the nomination. If the rank and file of
the democratic party desire Mr. Bryan to make
the race, he will make it no matter who may be
the republican nominee.
It has also been charged that Mr. Bryan
was waiting to ascertain, the chances of victory,
ready to run if the outlook seemed bright or to
refuse to run if the chances seemed unfavorable.
This charge, like the other, is without founda
tion. No one can estimate the chances of the
party in the next campaign with sufficient . accu
racy to make his candidacy dependent upon the
outlook. " While democrats have reason to be
encouraged by the fact that democratic prin
ciples have grown in popularity and that demo
cratic policies are now praised by many who de
nounced them a few years ago, and while
further encouragement is to be derived from
the fact that the democratic party is more united
than it has been for many years, and the re
publican party more divided still the action of
the democratic party can not be made dependent
upon the prospect of success. The prospects
now seem excellent, but a democratic national
convention will be held, a platform adopted and
,. , candidates nominated whether tho nrnnnonta n
& w5Jft ffl00Iny' fni the Party must make the
I- . . """ ouiDiH uie campaign
with fear or with confidence. Democrats believe
that democratic principles are sound and that
democratic policies are necessary; they should
ttS2 ?J 1endors uthose Principles and present
those policies and then select as their candidates
those who in their judgment, will give the party
the greatest assurance of success in the campaign
and the country the greatest assurance of benefit
in case of victory. . uoueuc
nHmlJiJ ?,aCan aslc for a Domination as a com
pliment if his nomination will not benefit the
Party and no democrat would be justified in
refusing a nomination if his party demanded hf
services, and if ?he members of the nartv E?
lieve that Mr. Bryan's, nomlnatton tin n the"
party, its principles and its policies he w?i
cept tho nomination whethe? the indSitw
point to defeat or victory, a defeat can
no disgrace where the cause is a just one but
cowardice would be disgraceful, especially in one
BrhyanSisS d",y tadQbted t0 hIs art" " Mr!
Just a word more. The next campaign will
be an appeal to the public conscience The in
vestigatlons have shown not on y the corrunt
yse of large campaign funds, but tL only source
from which they can be drawn, namelv IS1
corporations that seek to convert tt Lo n
ment into a business asset. The demonrS
party stands for the doctrine of equal righte to
all and special privileges to none and thfrefo
can not promise favors to favor-seeking co?nor
at ons. If it made such promises to the Sor
ations, it would bo guilty of duplicity tor t
would have to betray the voters, as the republi
can party has done, in order to reward tSeie
corporations as tho republican party has re ward-
The Commoner
ed them. The democratic campaign must bo
carried on by volunteers who will work because
they desire the triumph of democratic ideas. We
can not hope to appeal to tho sordid or to buy
the purchasable, even if such a course would
contribute toward democratic success. No one
should favor Mr. Bryan's nomination unless tho
party is willing to open its books and show where
its contributions come from and for what tho
money is expended. The republican party ought
to be challenged to con duct .its campaign in-this
open and honest way and if the republican lead
ers refuse to accept the challenge, the
democrats can well afford to leave the issue with
the public. An appeal to conscience is. politically
expedient, as well as morally right, for the con
science is the most potent force with which man
deals. The national conscience has already been
aroused, and a large majority of tho voters have
been educated to the necessity for real reform a
reform that will make this government again a
government of the people, by the people and for
the people. It only remains for the democratic
party to convince the voters that it can be en
trusted with the work of reform, and nothing
will do more to convince the public than a re
fusal to negotiate with predatory wealth and an
honest appeal by honest methods to' the honest
sentiment of the country.
oooo
TOM JOHNSON TRIUMPHANT
Hurrah for Tom Johnson! His victory
was a notable one and one at which every dem
ocrat can rejoice. Mayor Johnson is making
a bravo fight for the people, and his triumph
is their triumph as well as his. He is one of
the few business men of the country who, having
mado a fortune, put a limit to his accumulations
and placed his brain and business experience
at the service of his people. He has had a
hard fight injunctions to the right of him, in
junctions to the left of him, injunctions in front
of him volleyed and thundered, but he fought
on. Finally the administration shame on it
entered the Jiste against him and urged Con
gressman Burton to oppose him. President
Roosevelt drops several degrees as a reformer
when he interests himself in the defeat of a man
like Johnson, and Secretary Taft proves that
he is no reformer at all when he joins the cor
porate forces allied against Johnson. Surely
the voters of Cleveland can boast that they are
incorruptible when they withstood the influ
ences that were at work in favor of the street
railways of that city. If republics are ever
justly charged with ingratitude, it is because
the people are ignorant of the service rendered
by those to whom the public seems ungrateful.
Where the people understand the situation, they
can be trusted. They understood the situation
n XeT?land' and Johnson's re-election is as
creditable to the voters as it is complimentary
to him. Hail Tom Johnson! May your tribe
lllCFGcXBO
oooo
PUSHING ASSET CURRENCY
a Tll Ne.W Jorlc World' wnich was so much
disturbed at the suggestion that many ot tht
great metropolitan papers were in league with
predatory wealth, has joined the financier! in
demanding that the banks shall be permitted
to use their assets as a basis for currency It
says: "The responsibility for the lack of an
elastic currency must be divided among Brvan
ites, hankers and western republican ingress
men. The bankers have talked currency rfform
for years, but have never made a really united
and aggressive campaign. The American Bank
ers' Association at its recent convention in
dorsed the credit currency bill reported by the
Hepburn committee, but even then there was '
opposition from some of the western bankers
Mr. Bryan has fought currency reform for
eleven years, and has succeeded in keeping the
democratic party in opposition to it. To Mr
Bryan an inelastic currency is proof that the
gold standard is wrong and that 16 to 1 is richt
Hence there must be no reform." "bui.
"J? d.Ug Mr ,Bryan 00 much honor when
it credits him with "keeping the democratic
party ' from favoring an asset currency ft 2
true that Mr Bryan opposes the asset currency
but he is not vain enough to assume that the
almost universal opposition to It in the dm,
cratic party fs due to anything he has said or
done. Democrats oppose it naturally because
they are opposed to turning the people over
the tender mercies of the masters of hX S
The World seeks" to e? tK to?uf whSTt
attempts to connect the currency question with
V0LFJ. NUMBER 44
the silver question. There is nn o
nections between 'them. iKff? m.
to maintain a bank currency undi, n as ea8y
as under the gold atandXd? 2?d Jn 1,mot?11,8In
rency would bo as bad under a S 1,1 T CUI" .
as under bimetallism. The question nfStandard
money is one thfn. the .question o ?etal,,c
Is an entirely different thing. ThePp ?. paper
son why a man should 'favor an asset o m'
merely because he favors the coir! fn ,CUrrency
those who oppose an asse currency a So V1 5?
ZJ3r to their -z
anytlSffb aT wUh Te Si "
being able to deftaid thl aS r?uest!on' Not
merits; the Sftetaf to convrTT in? Us
silver question and then rttnolZ tn into a
question of , elasticity is not necess.r vl
ed with the asset currency for H l . u
elasticity le oVeJest mated S5 ,0'
tlclty which may be found necessnrv ! I
resort to the .perilous attempt 2 foist upon h
country a currency resting upon the variiw!
assets of the bank. The World shows its Van
Street bias when it speaks contemptuously o
''prairie and sagebrush congressmen ' Do no
the congressmen of the west represent the senti
ments of their people, and should they not re -resent
their people, and are the people of the
wh?JH telilgeni r leSS PatPloSf San thSS
w read the New York World? The New York
" SnBUtSS!Sibed thmember ol the Oklahoma
constitutional convention as "cornfield lawyers"
SnndiTragei1lieir work' Now the Word
gressmen"g PI"airIe &nd sabnish con-
The World's editorial not only betrays the
h,ftali?ewf a? PBjn e paper has taken
S5nia ?wa? -e fact that the editor con
scious that he can not. meet the opponents of
an asset currency in fair debate.
oooo
PROTECTING DEPOSITORS
The present situation has compelled study,
and study has brought forth a number of rem
edies. Attention has already been called to
the influence which stock gambling has had in
producing the present panic, but it is not suffi
cient to stop gambling. We ought, if possible,
to devise legislation which will protect bank
depositors not only from gambling on the stock
market, but from other evils which may arise.
The depositors can, by withdrawing their money,
create a panic at any time no matter how pros
perous the country is. Prosperity can he halted
in a day by the withdrawal of deposits. In the
.reserve cities national banks are only required
to Tteep twenty-five per cent of the deposits on
hand, and in other cities only fifteen per cent.
Banks could not afford to do business if they
were required to keep all of the deposits on hand
all the time. It costs money to handle deposits;
an army of clerks is employed to keep the books,
to take in money, to .pay it out and to guard it.
It is the loaning of the depositors' money that
makes banks of deposit profitable or even pos
sible. No matter how conservatively or safely
a bank is managed, it is not in position to re
turn all deposits on a moment's notice. In ordi
nary times the daily deposits will equal if not
exceed the withdrawals, and if there are regu
lar periods when more money is drawn out,
the bank calculates on this and provides for it.
Any solvent bank can be embarrassed if a
run is made upon it. The other banks may
come to its relief, but they can not do so if a
run is started on them at the same time. The
important thing, therefore, is to prevent the
depositors from making any sudden demand
upon the banks, and how can this be done?
By removing every possible reason for fear. It
is fear that causes depositor's to' withdraw money
and hide it. They do not want to take the risk
of loss or 'robbery, but when -a certain degree
of fear Is reached, they will risk keeping the
money at home. Our bank's are reasonably se
cure, but reasonable security is not sufficient
for unreasonable people,' and the unreasonable
have it in their power to precipitate a panic.
The postmaster general, according to the
press dispatches, will recommend the establish
ment of a postal savings bank; this it is argued
will draw a large sum of mqney from hiding.
and 'this sum being deposited by the govern
ment in the various banks, will make the money
available for loaning. It is said that many for
eigners who are unacquainted with our finan-
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